The Being

Only one of them was in a position to observe the figure that suddenly appeared in the middle of the street. He was the only one still conscious by the time whatever it was had solidified. Somehow realizing the need to play dead, he laid back against a nearby garbage-can and had almost completely closed his eyes by the time the figure turned in his direction.
And seemed to look straight at him.
He couldn't have moved less even if he had just underwent rigor mortis.
And then, as the figure moved past him - seemingly either unaware or unmindful of his presence- an undescribable wave of vertigo flowed through him. Somewhere within himself, this man, homeless these past two years in the back streets of New York, got the feeling that he had just been visited by some higher power.

I looked at what they call a “newspaper” today. It seems to be their major form of information exchange.
Curious.
I have never seen a written language before.
Maybe coexistence is going to be harder than we originally thought.
Incidentally, I discovered from this “newspaper” (their language was simplistically easy to decipher) that I am now living in the “15”th day of the month of “July” of the year “1995”. It would take too long to explain their concept of time...suffice it to say that one of their rotations is equal to about two of ours.
Also, I discovered a reference to some “homeless” people, but the reference is a bit obscure. The newspaper says that these homeless resided in “New York”, which I have determined is the name of the city that I am in. But how can they be homeless if they live on the planet? Perhaps I misunderstand the reference. These homeless were also referred to as “dead”. “Dead” seems to be a subject of some concern to these creatures.
I don't understand it myself.
Oh...and I am still looking.

The figure seemed to glide along the street, being careful to ensure that it was not picking up any undue attention. It had no trouble what-so-ever gaining access to the minds of the people that it passed. It could enter their minds at a whim, and even though the thought of such power was nearly intoxicating, the being contented itself with merely directing their attention away from itself. It became almost a game; tamper with this part of a brain, then this part, and then this part...
The being reveled in its untouchability until it became suddenly aware of a mind fleetingly touching its own, and than retreating. The contact only lasted for the better part of a millisecond, but by then the being had already determined that it had lost the sense of that mind-touch completely.
The being had been detected by something that had utterly eluded it afterwards.
It felt vulnerable.
And it felt afraid.
But it was also getting angry.

I found it.
I was walking down a street two “days” ago when I sensed it. I immediately withdrew within myself, erecting my shield as I have been taught, and I succeeded. It walked right past me, and didn't even know I was there.
I apologize for waiting this long to contact you; I hope my failure to check in didn't alarm you, but I couldn't risk calling attention to myself. It is so powerful! It spent several seconds in a trance, and I could feel the tendrils of its mind brushing against my own, but I deflected them. It perused this entire city, and then started moving again. I immediately took off in the opposite direction, making sure that nothing detectable leaked through my mind.
Maybe I will leave this part of the planet, and head towards somewhere less obvious; somewhere less populated. It will expect me to be where there are a lot of people; leaving this area will confuse it.
I will continue to keep in touch with you, but if you hear nothing at the scheduled time, do not fear for my safety, I will only be hiding. If it detects me, I will not be able to hide my mind from it, and therefore there will be no reason not to send you a short message just before I confront it...if I ever have to confront it.

The being was getting closer and closer to finding its quarry; but at the same time, it was also becoming visible to the denizens of this planet. It was an unusual phenomenon, one that it couldn't begin to understand. It seemed that, as it used up more of its mind force for the purpose of searching out its prey, its fundamental functions were no longer possible to control voluntarily. It couldn't walk upon the Earth unseen, the being just had to hope that nobody would notice it, or at the least not give it a second glance. After all, it had been created to look like a human being, so it wasn't exactly conspicuous, but it did get nervous. The longer it spent searching, the greater the possibility that some overly curious human would interrupt its train of thought, and then it would have to start its search all over again.
And so, understandably, it felt vulnerable.
It also felt afraid again, for only the second time in its existence.
But it was also getting more determined.
And more desperate.

I never realized how infernally warm this planet is!
It is getting harder and harder to concentrate on my task; in fact, it is getting hard to even find a place in which to continue my work. I'm definitely going to complete my task behind schedule, but it doesn't really matter to me.
After all, I'm the one who's stuck here, not any of you. When I've completed my mission I have to be the one to sit back and watch it all happen.
And I am really beginning to hate this planet!
Oh, that thing keeps coming closer and closer; I'm not entirely sure of what search pattern it's using, but whatever the pattern is, it seems to be working.
I am currently living in a swamp. A deserted, unpopulated corner of what these humans call “the Everglades” is now housing the most advanced form of life ever to walk their planet.
Lucky for the swamp.
But not so lucky for me.
It is so hot down here!
And very wet.
Yuch.

The being was exultant; it had finally found the fiend that it was looking for. But it still had to be careful, it didn't want to scare him away. It only had enough energy for a capture; if it lost him, it would not be able to spend the energy to start the search all over again.
It had found him accidentally.
On the side of a passing vehicle the being had seen an advertisement for “The quietest, most secluded place on Earth!”, and on a hunch, used all of its energy to conduct an extensive search through the “Florida Everglades”. It found him almost immediately, intercepting a transmission that apparently was sent from him to his off-planet confederates.
The being immediately set a relentless course straight for the Everglades; and once it reached the security of the forest, where there was no chance that it could be seen by prying human eyes, it reverted back to its true form. Then it channelled the energy that had been necessary for the purpose of maintaining a human facade back to its original task of shielding its mind, allowing it to aim straight at the heart of its enemy's hiding place without being detected.
The being's quarry was kneeling in front of some sort of device on the opposite side of the clearing. Oblivious to the being's presence, the alien kept tinkering with his device, trying to get it to focus on the face of a human being. The device focused, and grinning, the alien pushed a button. The human's face tightened and his eyes closed, and when they reopened they were glowing with an erie greenish light.
- It works!!!! -
The being overheard the alien's transmission to his friends, and decided that it was time for the capture. The alien's body suddenly convulsed, and forcibly did an about-face until his back was to his device and he was left staring at a short, black, rectangular box with an ISA emblem affixed to its front.
The being could hear the alien's heart sink. It cut off his cry for help and began a transmission of its own.
- Omarion Ribaldti, you are now being placed under arrest by a Capture Droid, commissioned by the Interstellar Security Administration. You are charged with attempting to subjugate the inhabitants of a technologically inferior planet. Under article 17B paragraph 7 subsection J, you are to be terminated immediately. -
A blue tinged sphere formed into existence around Omarion Ribaldti and his technologically advanced hypnotic device. Omarion allowed his shoulders to slump, awaiting the inevitable.
A flash of light incinerated the contents of the sphere, and since its job was finally finished, the droid trundled away, with a small squirrel being the only witness of its passing.

Mail Me!